Code of Conduct Procedure

The following procedure is proposed for adoption by the Rules Committee 4/17/19:

Purpose

These procedures govern the
handling of complaints that arise under the Code of Conduct guidelines.

Definitions

As used in these procedures:

21st LD – The 21st Legislative District Democratic Organization

Executive Board – The Executive Board is defined in the 21st
LD Bylaws

Code – The Code of Conduct adopted by the 21st Legislative District
Democratic Organization as amended

Chair – The Chair of the 21st Legislative District Democratic
Organization

Complainant – The person or persons directly involved in the
incident(s) covered in a complaint that are not alleged to have made any
violations

Respondent – The person or persons alleged to have violated the
code of conduct

Involved Parties – The complainant, respondent, and any witnesses
directly involved in an incident covered in a complaint. Casual bystanders are
not considered involved parties.

Recipients – The two Executive Board members that receive the
complaint and function as liaisons between the Executive Board and the
Investigatory Committee

Investigatory Committee – An investigatory committee may be either
standing or ad hoc and any appointments shall be made by the Executive Board

Scope

All members of the 21st LD,
members of any 21st LD standing or ad hoc committee, and the elected officers
of the Executive Board are subject to the Code and this process for handling
complaints.

Initiation of Complaint

Who
Initiates: Any voting member of the 21st
LD may initiate a complaint and need not be an Involved Party.

Form:
A complaint must provide details of the alleged violation, identify the Involved Parties, any witnesses to the
alleged offense, and, if applicable, the portion of the Code alleged to be violated.

Submission:
A complaint must be submitted to two Executive
Board members, one of which must be the chair or one of the vice-chairs.
These officers will serve as Recipients
of the complaint.

Reporting
Requirements: If the allegation involves a situation requiring mandatory
reporting to any authority under state law, it will be reported as required by
statute.

Initial Procedures

The Recipients,
shall jointly review the complaint within five business days of receipt and
advise the Complainant of the availability of engaging in mediation before
continuing the investigation.

If mediation resolves the complaint, no further
action need be taken.

The Involved
Parties shall be notified, provided with an outline of the next steps, and
reminded about the confidential nature of the proceedings.

The Recipients
may , but are not obligated to, temporarily suspend an alleged violator for a
period of up to 3 days from all 21st LD
activities, with the exception of meetings of the 21st LD at which the alleged violator has a right to vote.

The Investigatory
Committee may by two thirds vote extend the interim suspension until the
conclusion of the investigation. This suspension is subject to appeal to the
Executive Board who may overturn the suspension by a majority vote or refer the
vote to the membership at the next meeting.

The Investigatory
Committee may, by majority vote, suspended the investigatory process during
any criminal investigation into the allegations.

Procedural Rules & Responsibilities

The Executive
Board shall be informed about any complaints submitted since the last
meeting of the Executive Board. Details
given to the Executive Board
relating to the case shall be kept to a minimum, “need-to-know”.

The Executive
Board shall ensure all properly submitted complaints are handled in
accordance with these rules and Robert’s Rules of Order.

The Investigatory
Committee may retain or utilize professional resources or refer to an
appropriate agency if deemed necessary.

Involved
Parties and members with a substantive conflict of interest may be excluded
from serving on the Investigatory Committee, by a majority vote of the Executive Board. Any members so disqualified
shall have their replacements appointed by the Executive Board.

Members of the Investigatory Committee shall continue serving through the
disposition of the complaint, even if their term of office has expired.

Unless there are extraordinary circumstances,
all investigations of the Investigatory Committee,
shall conclude within 60 days from the receipt of the complaint by the
Investigatory Committee.

Trial rules will be consistent with Roberts
Rules of Order.

Only voting members of the 21st LD
may serve on the investigatory committee and participate in any trial or
penalty proceedings.

Procedure

Upon
receipt of a Complaint, the Investigatory
Committee shall convene within 7 days to review the complaint.

Upon
review, it deems appropriate by majority vote, the Investigatory Committee may,
with the consent of the Involved Parties,
refer the complaint to mediation.

If mediation resolves the complaint to the
satisfaction of all Involved Parties,
the complaint shall be deemed resolved and no further action shall be taken.

The
Investigatory Committee shall, to
the best of its ability:

Meet with and take testimony from the Involved Parties and any witnesses

Investigate the allegations as necessary

Investigate any patterns of behavior or past
incidences that are pertinent to the investigation

Upon
concluding its investigation, the Investigatory
Committee shall prepare a report and if charges are recommended, draw up
resolutions recommending charges.

With
the consent of the Involved Parties,
the Investigatory Committee shall
conduct a Post-Investigation Review
with the Involved Parties where it
will review the report and any resolutions recommending charges and proposed
penalty and attempt to reach a mutually agreed upon settlement before
proceeding to trial.

If charges are preferred, the Respondent shall be given the
opportunity to accept the report of the committee and plead no-contest to the
charges.

If the Respondent
pleads no-contest:

If the Involved
Parties unanimously consent, the penalty shall be imposed and no further
action shall be taken.

If the Involved
Parties do not unanimously consent to the penalty proposed, trial will be
skipped and the process will advance to the penalty phase before the membership
as in the case of trial by committee.

If
no settlement can be reached at the Post-Investigation
Review, the Respondent shall
have the option to have a trial by the Executive
Board or a trial by the 21st LD voting membership. If the Respondent is a member of the Executive
Board, trial will default to trial by the 21st LD voting membership.

Any
trial so ordered shall take place within 14 days of the Post-Investigation Review and all voting members must be notified
within 7 days of the time and place of the trial.

If
trial is by committee, the results and any proposed penalty shall be reviewed
with the 21st LD voting membership at the next general meeting or
special meeting called for such a purpose. The voting membership may vote on
the proposed penalty, may amend the penalty to a lesser one, or may waive
penalties, but may not increase the proposed penalty.

If
trial is by the 21st LD voting membership, the Chair shall call a
special meeting for the purpose of conducting the trial and, if found guilty,
determining the any penalty it deems appropriate.

Penalties for Violation

The penalties that may be imposed
for violation of the Code are the following:

Resolution of Censure: A Resolution of Censure is a formal
statement of disapproval. It carries with it no further penalty on its own but
is recorded in the minutes and remains a record of the organization and may be
used as evidence in future disciplinary committees to establish a pattern of
behavior that may justify more harsh penalties in the future for repeated
violations. The censured member shall work with the executive board to
establish a plan to reform the inappropriate conduct and avoid future incidents.

Suspension of Privileges and/or
Parliamentary Rights: Similar to a resolution of censure, a resolution may
be adopted that temporary suspends specific privileges or parliamentary rights
for a period of time not to exceed 3 months or the next reorganization meeting.
Rights granted by the Washington State Democratic Party charter or bylaws may
not be suspended.

Suspension of Membership: A member may
have their membership suspended for a period not to exceed 6 months. Suspension
of Membership removes all 21st LD privileges and rights, excluding those
granted by state party charter and bylaws.

Removal from Membership: Removal from
membership is effective immediately. Any member so removed may petition the
membership for re-admission by means of a written letter to the chair, no
sooner than 6 months from the date of removal and no more often than every 6
months thereafter. The letter will be reviewed with the membership under
executive session and readmission may be granted by a majority vote of the
entire membership.

Statutory Rights

No penalty imposed may remove any
statutory rights granted by state law. In the event that a vote must be taken
involving a statutory right granted by local, state, or federal law, any
individual granted such rights whose 21st LD membership has been
removed or suspended shall be notified of the vote in accordance with any notification
period required and shall be eligible to participate in procedures and votes
directly related to the statutory right.

Confidentiality

Through the duration of the
disciplinary process, all parts of these procedures shall remain confidential,
except for any required votes for any sanction by the 21st LD, which shall
occur in Executive Session. Violation of the confidentiality of these
procedures shall be considered a violation of the Code of Conduct. A finding of
guilt for breaking confidentiality carries with it a minimum penalty of 2
months suspension of membership.

Confidentiality may be waived by
unanimous consent of the Involved
Parties and is automatically waived in the case of any inquiries pursuant
to an active criminal investigation, court subpoena, or any other legal
requirements.

Robert’s Rules

In matters not expressly
addressed in these Rules, Robert’s Rules shall guide the process.

Appendix – A flow chart to graphically represent the process will be added here (WIP)